Status
Give an example of an ascribed and achieved status
Possible answers:
1. Canadian and Banker
2. Tall and car-owner.
How are status and role different?
Status is the position that is occupied.
"Role" is the behaviour associated with the status.
What shape is most often used to visually represent social hierarchy?
A triangle/pyramid.
An experiment that was meant to be a "study of prison life" that involved participants being given the statuses of prisoner or prison guard to gauge how it would influence their behaviour.
The Stanford Prison Experiment
What were the two statuses participants were given in the Stanford Prison Experiment?
Prisoner and Prison Guard
What is a status set?
The set of multiple statuses a person holds.
What is role conflict?
When two or more roles conflict with each other.
What is privilege?
Certain advantages, opportunities, and benefits that are enjoyed based on status.
Describe the "Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes" experiment.
An elementary school teacher introduced privileges and discrimination based on eye colour.
What position did Dr. Zimbardo hold in the Stanford Prison Experiment?
Warden/Prison Superintendant
An especially significant status that has a more profound impact on a person's life than the other statuses they hold.
Master status.
What is role strain?
When the responsibilities of one role are overwhelming or contradictory.
What is discrimination?
The introduction of disadvantages and unequal treatment based on status.
Why were all the participants in the Stanford prison experiment from similar backgrounds? (Caucasian, male, no violent offenses)
To ensure that the only independent variable was the status. Zimbardo wanted the study to be about how status can change a person, so the participants had to be as similar as possible.
What is a primary group?
A primary group in sociology refers to a small, intimate, and enduring social group characterized by strong emotional ties, close-knit relationships, and direct face-to-face interactions among its members.
True or False:
Social status is solely determined by an individual's wealth and financial assets.
False: Social status is determined by a variety of factors, including wealth, but also education, occupation, and other social markers.
What are obligations?
Something you are expected to do as part of your role.
Obligations are duties, responsibilities, or commitments that individuals have toward others or society as a whole.
What is social mobility?
The ability to move between rungs of the social hierarchy.
What did "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" teach?
The Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes experiment, conducted by Jane Elliott, aimed to teach participants about the impact of discrimination and prejudice by arbitrarily assigning privileges and disadvantages based on eye color, illustrating how social categorization can create and perpetuate inequalities.
What is a secondary group?
A primary group in sociology refers to a small, intimate, and enduring social group characterized by strong emotional ties, close-knit relationships, and direct face-to-face interactions among its members.
How might a person's status alter their life experience?
Possible answers:
What are rights?
Behaviours that individuals expect from others based on role.
What is a meritocracy?
A social system in which individuals are rewarded based on their abilities, talents, efforts, and achievements rather than on factors such as social class, family background, or other arbitrary characteristics.
In a meritocracy, the idea is that success and advancement are determined by an individual's merit, skills, and performance.
What did the Stanford Prison Experiment teach?
The Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrated how the assigned status of "prisoner" or "guard" could rapidly influence individuals' behavior, leading them to conform to social roles and engage in extreme, abusive actions, highlighting the powerful impact of situational factors on status-related dynamics in a simulated prison environment.
What prompted Jane Elliot to try the Brown Eyes Blue Eyes experiment in her classroom?
The assassination of MLK Jr.